Northrop Grumman is locked and loaded - ready to handle the growing emphasis on cyber-warfare to protect U.S. forces in 21st century conflicts, Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa said yesterday. "There has been a real strategic transformation of the company - from an aircraft company to a systems integration, a defense electronics and an information technology company, three very strong elements in their own right when you think about the future," Kresa told Wall Street analysts at the company's annual meeting in New York yesterday.
Ford Motor Co. and The U.K. Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) announced formation of a U.S.-based joint venture, Holographic Imaging LLC, aimed at accelerating the vehicle design process. Using technology in development at DERA, the venture will create a three-dimensional, interactive imaging workstation prototype. Engineers can rely on the multidimensional visual imaging instead of hard models to complete the design process.
Five European nations agreed yesterday to cooperate on amphibious operations. France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom Tuesday agreed on a Declaration of Intent for a European amphibious initiative. U.K. defense minister Geoff Hoon said that U.K. amphibious forces had worked with allies for many years, particularly with the Dutch, with whom the U.K. has been operating since 1973. "This initiative will enhance that co-operation, and improve our contribution to both NATO and Europe," he said.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS was picked by Lockheed Martin Space Systems-Astronautics Operations of Littleton, Colo., to produce composite structures for its Atlas V family of space launch vehicles. The structures include Centaur interstage adapters, heat shields and boattails.
Honeywell International Inc. will host a Jan. 10 shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed merger with General Electric Co. Pending stockholder and regulatory approval, the companies plan to move quickly to complete the transaction. Honeywell has agreed to pay a $1.35 billion termination fee if the board changes its recommendation, or if the company's shareholders vote down the merger when there is another valid public offer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
American jobs are lost when foreign countries insist on technology transfers and other conditions for buying major defense and commercial systems from the U.S., a labor union representative told the congressionally mandated National Commission on the Use of Offsets in Defense Trade at its first meeting Monday.
A Northrop Grumman Corp. team is working under a U.S. Air Force contract to develop software that will improve diagnosis of problems and more accurately predict failures in systems aboard legacy aircraft, including F-16s, F-15s and C-130s.
Litton Industries Inc. said it has reshaped its Information Systems Group, creating three new divisions from its PRC Inc. subsidiary in the process and capitalizing on its position in defense and intelligence markets. The Information Systems Group, Litton said, will now be composed of four divisions - PRC Government Solutions Division, PRC Defense Systems Division, PRC Maritime and Range Systems Division and TASC Inc.
GE Aircraft Engines chief W. James McNerney, 51, is leaving GE to take over as head of Minnesota's giant consumer-goods conglomerate 3M. David Calhoun, 43, will take over for McNerney. A veteran GE executive who comes from the auditing and finance ranks, Calhoun has been working as chief operating officer at GEAE under McNerney for several months (DAILY, Nov. 28). McNerney succeeds L.D. Simone, who will remain with 3M until April 1, 2001. McNerney's appointment as chairman and CEO of 3M is effective Jan. 1, 2001.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, The DAILY, in an article in the Dec. 4 issue ("BAE Systems sees new opportunities in aerospace electronics," page 349), incorrectly reported the title of Walt Havenstein. He is president of BAE Systems' Information&Electronic Warfare Systems business unit under the Information&Electronic Systems Integration sector headed by Galen Ho.
The Boeing X-32A Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator aircraft completed low-speed approach aircraft carrier variant (CV) tests on Saturday, following a flight test program of 33 total flights designed to accomplish government requirements.
CACI INTERNATIONAL INC. won a $500 million support contract from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate. CACI received dual contracts, with one base year and four option years, worth about $100 million per year, up to $500 million if all options are exercised.
Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), created after Boeing's acquisition of Hughes Electronic satellite businesses, had a tremendous year in 2000, according to company officials. "Our operations tempo is at an unprecedented level," said Tig H. Krekel BSS president. In all, BSS handed over a record 15 satellites. Company officials expect BSS close out the year with over 34 satellites in backlog, worth about $6 billion.
Martian sedimentary rock that's three or four billion years old might hold fossils, just as found on Earth, revealing any life from the period, say researchers in the Dec. 8 issue of Science magazine. Photos from NASA's Mars Orbital Camera show layered outcrops that suggest parts of Mars might have been filled with lakes and the Red Planet's geology might have been more active than suspected.
Kellstrom Industries Inc., of Sunrise, Fla., closed its acquisition of the aircraft and engine parts resale business of Aviation Sales Co. (AVS), spending less than originally planned. The deal, which closed yesterday, was announced last September (DAILY, Sept. 22). Kellstrom had expected to pay about $50 million in cash and related costs, but instead paid about $30 million, according to Oscar Torres, Kellstrom's chief financial officer.
A recount of Washington state's U.S. Senate race has confirmed that Sen. Slade Gorton (R) lost his re-election bid, ensuring that Seattle-based Boeing will be without a key supporter in the Senate next year. Cantwell won the recount by 2,229 votes, Washington's Secretary of State announced last week.
Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin joint venture, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $311,462,736 modification to firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract DAAH01-00-C-0108, for funding of the second program year of full rate production of the Javelin Weapon System. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. (40%), and Tucson, Ariz. (60%), and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 29, 1999. The U.S.
Boeing Co., Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $426,450,718 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for the Flexible Sustainment Program in support of the C-17 aircraft through September 2001. The program places total system sustainment responsibility under the C-17 prime contractor to achieve improvements in logistics support and mission readiness while reducing operating and support costs. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 2001. Solicitation issue date was May 26, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Nov. 17, 2000.
Candidates to chair the House Armed Services, International Relations and Science Committees are going on job interviews this week. A House Republican steering panel, headed by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), will hear from all the contenders during private, half-hour interviews today and tomorrow. House Republicans plan to vote on the steering panel's recommendations in early January.
Lockheed Martin is teaming up with Space Imaging Cukurova Holding/INTA in a bid to handle the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) high-resolution remote sensing needs and expand its Ikonos satellite technology in the international marketplace. "Forming a strategic alliance with satellite producer Lockheed Martin and earth imagery satellite operator Space Imaging will enable the TAF to acquire an earth imagery satellite at higher resolutions with better technical characteristics," said Mehmet Sepiil, CEO of Cukurova/Space Systems Inc.
Boeing Co., St Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $6,620,558 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee contract which increases the not-to-exceed amount on an undefinitized contract action (UCA) providing for restructure of the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) effort for the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System for the F-15, F-16, F-22 and F/A-18 aircraft, and the AIM-9X missile and provides incremental funding to the basic JHMCS EMD effort. The restructure provides for further maturation of critical technologies and extensions of the EMD phase to March 2002.
Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. marked a milestone in civil tiltrotor technology as it mated the wing and fuselage for the first prototype of its BA609 aircraft last Friday at Bell's Flight Research Center, Arlington, Tex. The company is a joint venture of Bell Helicopter Textron and Agusta, a Finmeccanica company, to design, develop and manufacture the BA609 civil tiltrotor and the AB139, a conventional twin-engine helicopter. The company plans to build four prototype tiltrotor aircraft for flight testing and certification.
Raytheon Co. last week gave Wall Street its first real glimpse of expected results for fiscal 2001, pegging earnings per share between $1.55 and $1.70 for the year - just shy of analyst consensus estimates of $1.71 a share. "It's important to understand this is the first guidance we've given for the year...if there's a difference in the interpretation, it's in the interest expense," said company spokesman David Polk, emphasizing that the range does not signal any financial problems at Raytheon.
Rockwell Collins Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $5,848,834 modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-00-C-0115 to exercise an option for the production of 121 AN/ARC-210(V) Electronic Protection Radio Systems (28 RT-1556B/ARC, 38 RT-1747D/ARC, and 55 RT-1794C/ARC radios), including ancillary equipment and associated support. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. NAVY Reserve (116 systems (28 RT-1556B/ARC, 30 RT-1747D/ARC, and 58 RT-1794C)); the U.S.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Dallas, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $104,000,000 modification (not-to-exceed for this letter contract modification is $212,400,000) as part of cost-plus-incentive-fee contract DAAH01-98-C-0062, for low rate initial production of missiles and for ground support for Patriot Advanced Capability. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas (50%); Huntsville, Ala. (30%); Camden, Ark. (7%); Lufkin, Texas (5%); Clearwater, Fla. (3%); The Netherlands (3%), and Germany (2%), and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2003.
